thorns
by envysparkler
Summary: There are seven stages to love. (Or, how Ancient Runes really managed to steal the show.) – OC.


**a/n:** An OC Hogwarts oneshot, covering all seven years.

 **dedication:** To Cherry, on her nineteenth birthday!

 **disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter.

 **summary:** There are seven stages to love. (Or, how Ancient Runes really managed to steal the show.) – OC.

* * *

 _ **thorns**_

 _if you cannot touch the prickles, do not smell the rose_

* * *

 _ignorance_

* * *

Cheralyn D'Aragan waved goodbye to her parents and clutched her suitcase tighter. Her father smiled and her mother floated a handkerchief into the air, neither coming closer for a hug or a kiss. After all, public displays of affection were _not done_ in pureblood high society and Monsieur and Madame D'Aragan made it incredibly clear that they were the epitome of pureblood.

Cheralyn would've liked a hug, though, and perhaps some reassuring words. This was the first time she would be away for such a long time and she was already homesick. Most of her friends were attending Beauxbatons and Cheralyn was afraid that she wouldn't know anyone.

"Goodbye, dear," her mother said, in a tone that signified that Cheralyn should stop loitering on the platform and get on the train.

"Bye, mother, father," Cheralyn gave a short curtesy and hopped onto the train. She hurried into the first compartment she could find, just so she could see her parents one last time. They were already turning away – parental obligation fulfilled.

It was only when she went to put her trunk in the luggage rack did Cheralyn realize that the compartment was already occupied. A boy was blinking at her, wearing the unmarked school uniform that denoted a first year.

"Hi," Cheralyn smiled, pureblooded manners taking over, "I'm Cheralyn D'Aragan."

"Adam," the boy muttered and Cheralyn inwardly frowned – it was impolite to mutter, her mother always said.

It was also not done to sit in a compartment unsupervised with a boy, so Cheralyn flounced out. Adam was rude anyway, and he hadn't mentioned his last name so he was probably a muggleborn. Not that there was anything _wrong_ with muggleborns, but Madame D'Aragan would have a heart attack if Cheralyn had been caught alone with one.

Cheralyn didn't give the boy another thought.

* * *

 _apathy_

* * *

Second year was ten times more difficult than first year and Cheralyn – Cherry, as she'd been called by several classmates though not within her mother's earshot – was fed up with how much time she spent in the library.

Autumn was a time to run around and watch the leaves change color and gorge on the Halloween feast. It was not to be spent staring at thick books and trying to decipher transfiguration principles.

Cherry thought that Professor Clearwater was a sadist, but thought it privately. After all, she was still a pureblood and being rude to elders was not tolerated. So instead, she muttered a quiet curse – Gryffindor was a great place to pick up swear words – and startled at the soft gasp.

Looking up slowly – she didn't know what she'd do if a teacher caught her swearing, a letter would be sent home, her parents would be so _angry_ – Cherry saw a boy standing there, wearing green and silver. He was looking at her in shock and Cherry stared back. The boy looked vaguely familiar but for the life of her she couldn't place him.

Only after the Slytherin had disappeared behind a stack of books – not to tattle, thankfully, it was the Puffs who were tattlers – that Cherry exhaled in relief. Her indiscretion would go unnoticed.

She was packing up her books when it hit her – that was the boy in her compartment, way back on the first train ride to Hogwarts. Cherry mentally shrugged and hefted her bag, her completed Transfiguration assignment in her hand.

Why did she care if some no-name Slytherin heard her curse?

* * *

 _interest_

* * *

Cherry stared at the runes swimming around the page and blinked. The runes reasserted themselves into their proper positions, but another minute of staring and they again began to blur. Cherry groaned and rubbed her eyes, leaning back. Her body protested the movement and she winced as she gingerly stretched all the muscles that had fallen asleep after six hours hunched over books.

"The Antony Proposition."

Cherry blinked and looked around, half-convinced that she had started hearing voices before she caught sight of the boy staring at her from across the table. He had certainly not been sitting there when she had occupied the table, though Cherry had been so deep into translations she wouldn't have paid attention if a dragon had offered her tea.

"I beg your pardon?" Cherry asked politely, because the boy looked like he was waiting for an answer. It took her a minute to connect the Slytherin tie and short brown hair and realize that Adam was sitting across from her and raising an eyebrow at her befuddled face.

The eyebrow did wonders for his jawline, though. It sculpted his face into an aristocratic look.

"The assignment? Ancient Runes? The problem you've been staring at for the last half hour?" Adam said, getting steadily more impatient and Cherry squinted at him, trying to get her weary mind to follow his train of thought. "You can solve it using the Antony Proposition."

She looked down at the squiggly lines and triangles and circles. She could probably solve it, if she remembered what the Antony Proposition was.

Adam sighed, like he knew exactly what she was thinking, "The translation of Egyptian runes is done from inside to outside, _unless_ the character of Amun appears, in which case the translation becomes circular, oh just give me that." Adam yanked her half-finished translation and began scribbling on it, his ink-smudged fingers flying across the parchment.

Cherry settled in, resting her head on her bent arms, and watched him write. He had narrowed his eyes in fierce concentration, a furrow in his forehead like he was mentally puzzling it out. Cherry had enough brainpower to idly muse that intense was a good look on him before she fell asleep.

When she woke up, her completed assignment was next to her without a word of acknowledgement.

* * *

 _attraction_

* * *

Cherry was starting to dread going home for Yule. Her parents insisted on attending every high society event and party of the year – and there were quite a lot, given the pureblood attitude to outdo their peers – just for a chance to mingle with upper echelon of British wizarding society. Her grandparents had migrated to England, and their French ancestry still showed.

Most notably, they were not included in the Sacred Twenty-Eight which her parents took both as an insult and a challenge.

Cherry sighed over her obligatory glass of champagne and resisted the urge to scratch at the itch between her shoulder blades. She briefly entertained herself by imaging her mother's scandalized expression if Cherry engaged in such a common behavior at such a high end party.

"Cheralyn," someone called and Cherry startled for a moment before she remembered that her name was actually Cheralyn. She turned to see her parents walking towards her, accompanied by another set of disdainful purebloods, along with a boy that had to be their son.

But she recognized that short brown hair. Adam looked far different out of black robes in Slytherin ties and Cherry appreciated the way his violet robes accentuated his dark eyes. Then she did a double-take because honestly, she had been quite sure that Adam was a muggleborn.

"Cheralyn, this is Lord and Lady Fawley," her mother smiled, "Lord and Lady Fawley, my daughter, Cheralyn."

"I do believe you've met our son," Lady Fawley smiled, "Adam mentions you quite often – you're topping the Divination class I believe."

Adam stepped forward and bent over her hand with a muttered, "Lady Cheralyn." Cherry could see him rolling his eyes.

"Oh, I wouldn't quite say that," Cherry smiled, automatically going to the basics even as her mind reeled. Adam was a pureblood? "Adam is so gracious – I would have failed Ancient Runes if he didn't tutor me."

"Such modesty," Lord Fawley said, "I must say, I am glad that at least one of Adam's friends is a lovely girl like yourself. The others are all so…uncouth," he wrinkled his nose. Adam's eyes narrowed – Cherry knew full well that most of his friends were muggleborn.

Or at least she thought they were. Cherry had not connected Adam Fawley to the Fawley family and now she was wondering if she'd made the same mistake with other classmates. Not that she had any prejudice, per say, but you didn't talk to the Sacred Twenty-Eight the way you talked to anyone else.

Cherry wasn't quite sure how to respond to Lord Fawley's thinly disguised contempt, especially in the face of Adam's anger, and kept her smile frozen on her face.

"Well, dear, we must be off," Lady Fawley said – she must've sensed the mood, but she looked as calm as ever, "Adam, I trust that you will keep Miss Cheralyn company for the evening."

"Yes, Mother," Adam replied stiffly, not relaxing until all of their parents were out of view.

"Are they always like that?" Cherry remarked idly, running a finger over the rim of her glass.

"You have no bloody idea," Adam said lowly, before taking her champagne glass and downing it in one gulp, "On and on about their pureblooded traditions and honor and the _Sacred Twenty-Eight_." Adam made an angry gesture partially hidden by the folds of his robes. "All for the sake of the precious Fawley name."

Cherry stared at her Runes study partner and wondered how she hadn't noticed his high cheekbones before. "Is that why you act so…" Cherry struggled to find words that would not offend, but gave up, "So common?"

Adam looked at her, some of the anger leeching into amusement, "You mean, why don't I act like all the other Sacred Twenty-Eight, all polite and gentlemanly and snotty like I think my blood is the best thing to grace the earth?"

Cherry flushed, because that _was_ what she meant, though not quite in those terms.

"It would make my friends a bit disconcerted if I suddenly put on airs," Adam rolled his eyes, "And honestly, I don't believe in pure blood and all that rot. Magical blood is magical blood."

Cherry murmured an agreement, and her eyes found her parents in the center of the room, laughing and talking and watching with hawk eyes for a single sign of weakness. "If only our parents agreed."

Adam snorted quite rudely at that and Cherry was unable to stop a small giggle. Honestly, he was quite charming when he wasn't lecturing her on obscure translation theorems.

Cherry returned to her fourth year with a flutter in her step, which immediately vanished when she saw Adam kissing a fourth-year Ravenclaw in the entrance hall.

She knew the girl was muggleborn, knew the relationship was a message to his parents, but that didn't stop the sick feeling in her stomach.

* * *

 _obsession_

* * *

"The translational integrity of Chinese runes are quite significantly altered by the major events of the era," Professor Babbling said in a measured tone, "The translation of the rune _xingfu_ , for example, changes from the Shang and Zhou dynasty from anger to happiness which prompts a deeper look into history."

Cherry stole a glance at the back of Adam's head and discovered his attention completely focused on the teacher. She hastily jotted down _'xingfu – anger to happiness in Shang to Zhou dynasty'_ before again looking at short brown hair.

"The era in which runes are used greatly influenced the meaning of the words at the time as the wizarding community had more or less to fear from their non-magical neighbors," Professor Babbling drew what looked like an abridged timeline, "In the Shang dynasty, the wizarding world was on the edge of being torn apart and thus the rune designated anger and aggression. The relatively more peaceful Zhou dynasty saw the meaning shift to happiness and comfort. This is a classic example of the Emile Effect. Who can tell me what the Emile Effect states?"

Adam raised his hand and Cherry started. She had been staring at him for far too long. "The Emile Effect states that that a marked change in the general mood or emotion of a place can change the magic in runes, thereby adapting them to situational need," he recited, most likely verbatim from the textbook. Adam actually enjoyed Runes, though God only knew why.

"Correct, Mr. Fawley. In this way, many Chinese runes had been drastically altered from their original purpose and one must identify the time period and location of a rune before attempting a translation."

Professor Babbling's voice droned on and on, but Cherry was no longer paying attention to Chinese runes and historical significance. She'd idly began to doodle, and jumped when the bell rang.

"I want twelve inches on the changes of the significance of the number four with respect to historical disputes and I want O.W.L. quality!" Professor Babbling called out above the sudden noise. Cherry turned red when she saw what she'd been doodling and hurriedly scratched out the calligraphic _'Lady Cheralyn Fawley'_ before gathering up her things.

Adam swept out in front of her, his girlfriend on his arm.

* * *

 _antipathy_

* * *

"I hate him," Cherry muttered under her breath, jabbing her quill at the parchment so hard that it punctured it. Her seething aura of anger had already terrified a few groups of first years into finding a different wing to study in.

She stared at the paper, not seeing the rune circle outlined, but instead the sneering face of the sixth-year Ravenclaw that had so ignorantly insulted her parents. Sure, they may be prejudiced and social climbers and a bit overbearing, but they were _still her parents_.

She loved them and while she had at times wished they were a little less obsessed with their name and their blood, she'd never stopped loving them.

And the fact that some idiotic muggleborn went and compared them to a pack of attention-starved dogs was too far.

"Hey, Cherry," Adam said easily, slipping into the seat across from her, "Started on the circle yet?"

She didn't say anything, just pressed her lips into a thin line and glared at him. He blinked and frowned, like he didn't know what he did. "Are you okay? You seem kind of angry."

"Really?" Cherry asked, her voice faux-sweet in a voice she'd never used before, not with Adam. This tone was sugar over poison, the too-fake simper of a pureblood socialite with just an edge of dangerous. "I can't _imagine_ why I'd be angry."

As much as Adam disparaged pureblood customs, he recognized the voice. "If this is about what Sally said –"

"What did Miss Talbot say?" Cherry asked with wide eyes, the question a further jab at the fact that the girl was muggleborn.

"Come on, Cherry, don't be like that," Adam rolled his eyes, like it was just a passing mood and that Cherry had no _real_ right to be angry on behalf of her parents. "You know what your parents are like."

 _You know your parents try desperately to be accepted into the upper echelon_ , went unsaid. Unsaid, but not unheard.

"I do," Cherry said, "And I know what your parents are like." Adam's eyes narrowed. "And I know what the Talbots are." She stood up and gathered her books, "I'm not upset over the opinion of some common _mudblood_."

The slur felt nasty on her lips but she forced it out, not looking in Adam's direction as she heard a chair scrape back.

"Don't you dare call her that!" Adam said, one octave shy of shouting.

"Do you prefer I call her a social climber?" Cherry smiled, saccharine, "An upstart muggleborn who wants to better her own popularity by latching on to a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight? A girl who's just using you like you're using her?"

Adam's eyes were slits and his face was pale. He looked angrier than she'd ever seen him before. "You have no idea what you're talking about," he hissed, his fingers clenching on the edge of the table like he'd like nothing more than to pull out his wand and hex her.

"What's the matter?" she whispered, "Afraid of hearing about what you've really done? You started dating her just to make your parents mad, and now you're afraid of letting go."

She looked at him one last time, the sharp angles and short brown hair and dark eyes and said softly, "The thing about the truth, Adam, is that it doesn't discriminate."

With that, she walked out of the library with her head held high, ignoring the tears that streamed down her cheeks.

* * *

 _the turning point_

* * *

 _The Aristotle Conjecture states that two runes are convoluted when placed in the East and West directions. Discuss._

Cherry stared at her paper blankly. She remembered reading about the Aristotle Conjecture, which was a master treatise on Greek runes. She remembered a few points here and there. But she could not, for the life of her, remember the convolution part of the conjecture.

She rubbed her forehead like it was a magical connection to her memory and sighed. Her grades had suffered ever since she'd stalked out of the library in sixth year – without Adam to explain, Runes had become much more difficult.

 _Decipher the given rune circle and give its origin, time period, meaning, and one application._

But she was determined to turn in an Outstanding N.E.W.T paper, no matter what it took. Especially to rub it in Adam Fawley's arrogant face.

Unfortunately, she did not have a natural aptitude for the subject. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind, hazily recalling the notes she'd studied the day before. The Aristotle Conjecture had stated the runes had four operations performed on them when placed in perfect East and West directions.

They were summed, multiplied, shifted and folded. Cherry dripped her quill in ink and began writing again.

A few hours later, she left the hall, rubbing her eyes with ink-stained fingers. Adam used to catch her when she did that and usually stopped her from rubbing ink all over her face.

"You're going to have black patches everywhere," a disapproving voice said and Cherry nearly jumped at the familiar exasperated tone. Adam stood in front of her, looking apprehensive.

"What?" Cherry cleared her voice and tried again, "What are you doing here?"

"Uh," Adam ran a hand through his hair, looking flustered, "I wanted to ask you a question about the paper?" His voice went high near the end.

Cherry was not impressed. "Go ask your girlfriend," she retorted snidely, even though she knew full well that Adam had broken up with Sally at the beginning of seventh year. She made to push past him, but Adam blocked her path.

"Cherry, please just hear me out," he said lowly, "I know I've been an idiot –"

"That's putting it lightly," Cherry muttered.

"I've been a colossal idiot," Adam amended, "What Sally said about your parents was really hurtful and I should not have taken her side. I should've never started dating her, and especially not to prove a point to my parents. I'm really, _really_ , sorry for not doing anything to stop her and yelling at you – everything you said that day was true."

Cherry eyed him incredulously, "That sounds way too practiced to be a spur-of-the-moment apology."

Adam looked sheepish. "I've been trying to talk to you ever since the beginning of the year," he admitted, "And my nerve keeps failing. Runes was – is," he corrected, looking past her into the Great Hall, "Our last exam. This was quite literally my last chance."

"How can I believe that you're genuine?" Cherry asked with a raised eyebrow, but she knew it was useless. She was already softening – Adam had always had a way of making her feel special.

"I'll make it up to you," he said earnestly, looking at her with those dark, dark eyes.

* * *

 _love_

* * *

He did indeed make it up to her. A lot. Several times over. With roses and chocolates and fancy dinners and takeout containers and finally, in the end, a ring.

Cherry looked at him and saw the little boy that had been in her compartment on the first Hogwarts Express. She saw the boy who heard her curse, the teenager who helped her with Runes, the gentleman who danced with her at the ball. She saw the classmate she crushed on, the friend who fought with her and the man who apologized.

But most of all, she saw her husband, looking at her like she lit up the world.

* * *

 **fin**

* * *

 **a/n:** A little series of drabbles – each stage of love represents each Hogwarts year with love itself coming after.


End file.
